


Fairytale in Los Angeles

by thehoyden



Category: The Windrose Chronicles - Barbara Hambly
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2004-12-22
Updated: 2004-12-22
Packaged: 2018-01-25 04:46:22
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1632320
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thehoyden/pseuds/thehoyden
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Written for Darthneko</p>
    </blockquote>





	Fairytale in Los Angeles

**Author's Note:**

> Written for Darthneko

 

 

There were plenty of advice books out there for the dual-career couple, but somehow, she doubted they would help.

 _Dear Abby_ , Joanna mentally composed, _I'm a successful private computer consultant, and my partner is a wizard. He's recently become the Archmage of another dimension, though, which does seem to necessitate relocation. How do we work through this?_

The funny thing was, Joanna was relatively certain that the columnist had heard more outlandish tales. It was just that, in Joanna's case, it was _true_.

There was also that minor thing where half the wizards in said dimension would probably cheerfully murder Antryg - and while one might sometimes be tempted to metaphorically throttle one's new coworkers, actual death seemed a bit much.

Joanna slowed to a stop outside a shop window. Lights from a Christmas tree display twinkled at her, a moment of cognitive dissonance with the balmy weather of December in Los Angeles.

Her mother, of course, had a perfect Christmas tree, with everything just so. Joanna normally spent Christmas with her, and so had never bothered with her own. Gary had bought a real tree, and annoyed her for days by talking endlessly about it, and didn't she want to spend Christmas with him, snuggled up by his real spruce tree?

She made a face at the window. Her mother was spending the holidays in New York, so she was on her own this year. Except, not really.

With such weighty matters on her mind, there was clearly only one thing to do.

* * *

"Turn around," Joanna ordered. "And no peeking."

Antryg obediently turned, hands clasped behind his back.

Joanna hauled the box inside, to a corner where there would probably be enough room if they moved the armchair over. "Okay, you can look now."

Antryg spun around, and his eyes widened. "A cardboard box! Oh, Joanna, just what I've always wanted!"

"Doof," she said fondly. "I'll have you know that this cardboard box contains the gaudiest fake Christmas tree ever made."

"You celebrate a festival of birth with fake plant life?" Antryg asked, opening the box.

"Well, how many evergreens have you seen around here, anyway?"

"A point," Antryg agreed.

They wrestled it out of the box and bent the branches into shape before stepping back to admire it.

"It is rather cheerfully ugly, isn't it?" he observed after a few moments.

"Wait till you see the ornaments," she said.

* * *

"Is that a llama?" Antryg asked, squinting at the ornament.

"Actually, I think it's supposed to be a camel."

"Wait, what do camels have to do with anything?"

"Erm," Joanna answered, and Antryg threw his head back and laughed.

* * *

Joanna and Ruth took refuge in a restaurant for lunch, after a morning of marathon shopping.

"I swear, my family is just breeding left and right, you know? At least I got my nieces and nephews done this morning," Ruth said, making some minute adjustment to her perfect curls. "God, I wish I had someone to bring to Christmas - my whole family is going to be after me, nag nag nag, why don't you have a man, why aren't you married, ugh."

Joanna grimaced sympathetically. "But at least you aren't dating Devon anymore."

"Thank god for that," Ruth said. "What a waste of space - I mean, really, what was I thinking? At least you've got Antryg. Are you taking him to Christmas at your mom's place?"

"She's in New York this year. Besides, I'm not sure I want to think about my mom and Antryg in the same room. It's like matter and antimatter - kaboom, you know?"

That only pissed Ruth off. Actually, most everything about Joanna's mom pissed Ruth off. "Well, she _should_ like him, because even though he's - you know - he's still a great guy. He's good to you."

"Yeah," Joanna said, unable to keep herself from smiling.

"See?" Ruth said, brightening. "He makes you do that. If he can make you smile like that, he's totally worth it."

Later, on her way home, with Antryg's presents locked securely in her trunk, Joanna wondered how you could be willing to risk your life for someone, but still be ambivalent about moving to another dimension. Then she remembered the homicidal wizards and officials of the Church and Realm, and was no closer to resolution than before.

* * *

Antryg watched Christmas cartoons with great interest.

"Could you really make a reindeer's nose glow?" Joanna asked curiously, curled up next to him on the couch.

"It's not something I've ever attempted before, but I think I could swing making it _appear_ to glow," Antryg said, his voice acquiring that abstract dreaminess that overcame him whenever he engaged academic questions. "The flying sled, though - now that would be something."

"If you could make sleds fly, you wouldn't need to invent cars. Talk about a clean fuel source," Joanna said, meditatively.

Antryg looked at her in surprise, his spectacles slipping down his beaky nose. "Are you suggesting that you could bypass an industrial revolution by using magic as an energy source?"

"It's clean. It's renewable. Which doesn't necessarily mean people would use it, because look how many people drive hybrid cars here, right?"

"Hmmm," Antryg said.

Frosty the Snowman was on next. Joanna eventually went to bed, but Antryg stayed up at his desk, writing furiously and with great concentration.

* * *

Antryg woke her early on Christmas morning, despite having worked the night before.

"I didn't want to wait," he said simply, and kissed her.

They opened the presents, sitting like children in front of their gaudy Christmas tree. There was a stuffed llama (for her), a hideous sweater (for Antryg, who professed to love it on sight), a bamboo plant (for Antryg, who had raved about his sensei's plants), various CD's and movies for them both, yo-yo's and toys that had taken their fancy. It was fun and funny, and the best Christmas morning in recent memory.

Later that morning, Joanna said, "You know, Antryg, if you wanted to - if you needed to, you know, go back..."

Antryg looked up and gently shook his head, and said, "Don't you know how happy I am to be here with you, safe and sound?" He took her in his arms, and tucked her head under his chin. "When it comes, we can deal with it then. For now, I think we ought to just enjoy the snow."

"Antryg," she said, her voice muffled against his chest, "it's not snowing. It's December in L.A."

"Oh really?" he said, sounding completely blasé.

And when Joanna turned her head to look out the window, she saw snowflakes floating down softly. They stayed like that for a long time, watching the snow together.

 


End file.
